THE DEVIL'S RIDING-HORSE (MANTIDM). 29 



described them much later than Savigny, mentions that 

 he was unable to discover any insect capable of nourishing 

 these carnivora, and they disappeared at the borders of 

 oases, as soon as vegetation commenced ; they were con- 

 fined to the absolutely arid sands where they were met. 

 However, species have since been found in spots that 

 support a few sorry plants. The genus Eremiaphila 

 seems localized in the Mediterranean regions of Africa 

 and Asia, appearing in Egypt, the desert of Luxor, the 

 oasis, isthmus of Suez, in Abyssinia, Nubia, Algeria, 

 and Arabia. 



As to the general modifications of form, one may say 

 of the ground mantidae, and among the Eremiaphilae in 

 particular, the body tends to become clumsy and squat, 

 with the anterior legs short and large, and the organs of 

 flight atrophied. The plant-types, on. the contrary, tend 

 to lengthen : those with a slender neck and large 

 abdomen live on leaves ; the stick- like body of others 

 renders them in keeping with nothing so much as with 

 slender herbaceous or woody stems ; their wings tend to 

 abbreviate, and even become unfit for purposes of flight 

 in the case of the larger species of this form, as Thespis ; 

 small kinds of the type have wings well developed. 



